1935 NSWRFL season

1935 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams 9
Premiers Eastern Suburbs (5th title)
Minor premiers Eastern Suburbs (6th title)
Matches played 75
Points scored 2770 (total)
36.933 (per match)
Top point scorer(s) Dave Brown (244)
Top try scorer(s) Dave Brown (38)

The 1935 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 28th season of Sydney's top-grade rugby league football club competition, Australia's first. With the inclusion of the Canterbury-Bankstown club this season, nine teams from across the city contested the premiership which lasted from April until September and culminated in Eastern suburbs' victory over South Sydney in the final.[1]

Season summary

The inclusion of the Canterbury-Bankstown club in the premiership this season saw the number of teams increase for the first time since University's introduction in 1920. This meant the number of regular season matches each club played increased in 1935 from 14 to 16.

Eastern Suburbs began an unbeaten streak that lasted almost three years. On 22 June 1935, South Sydney beat Eastern Suburbs 18-11 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. On 25 April 1938 they again beat them 21-14. Between those two dates Eastern Suburbs did not lose a premiership match. The University club did not win a single match in 1935, continuing a losing streak that started in round 2, 1934 and which would run till round 14, 1936 and which marks the most consecutive losses in NSWRL/NRL premiership history at 42.

The fifth round match between St. George and Canterbury-Bankstown was played in part using a rubber ball; the idea was soon dropped as the ball was considered too lively. The match is also famous for the fact that St. George won 91-6. This scoreline remains the highest margin of victory by any team as well as the most points scored by a team in a single match. The following week, Canterbury were on the receiving end of the second-highest winning margin in NSWRFL history when Eastern Suburbs defeated them 87-7. Dave Brown’s 45 points in this match remain the highest number of points scored by an individual in a game.

Teams

The addition of Canterbury-Bankstown meant that the League involved nine teams for the first time since 1929.[2]

The jerseys of the 9 teams for the 1935 season are shown below.

Balmain
28th season
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Captain-Coach: Joe Busch
Canterbury-Bankstown
1st season
Ground: Belmore Oval
Coach: Tedda Courtney
Captain: Jack Morrison→Tom Carey
Eastern Suburbs
28th season
Ground: Sports Ground
Coach: Arthur Halloway
Captain: Dave Brown
Newtown
28th season
Ground: Marrickville Oval
Coach: Charles 'Boxer' Russell
Captain: Hans Mork
North Sydney
28th season
Ground: North Sydney Oval
Coach: Frank Burge
Captain: Doug Deitz
South Sydney
28th season
Ground: Sports Ground
Coach: Dave Watson
Captain: Percy Williams
St. George
15th season
Ground: Earl Park
Coach: Albert Johnston
Captain: Percy Fairall
University
16th season
Coach: Bob "Botsy" Williams
Western Suburbs
28th season
Ground: Pratten Park
Captain-Coach: Les Mead

Records set in 1935

Eastern Suburbs winger Rod O'Loan scored a club record of seven tries in a 61-5 win over University. This tally stands second (behind Frank Burge's eight tries in 1920) on the list of most individual tries in a premiership match. Dave Brown's six tries in a 1935 game against Canterbury stands in equal third place in that same list, Easts winning the match 65-10.

The standing record for most tries in one season also comes from 1935 being 38 by Easts' Dave Brown.[3] Brown's 45 points in a 1935 match against Canterbury also stands as the record for most points in a match and the 15 goals he kicked in that match stands in equal first place as the most goals scored in a match. The other equal place holder is St George's Les Griffen who also kicked 15 goals in the Dragon's 1935 clash against Canterbury.

Dave Brown's season tally of 244 points stood for 34 years as the record points scored in a season until topped by Eric Simms in 1969.

Ladder

The geographical locations of the teams that contested the 1935 premiership across Sydney.
Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Eastern Suburbs 1615012599157+44234
2 South Sydney 1611052314222+11226
3 Western Suburbs 1610062345243+10224
4 North Sydney 169162248253-523
5 Balmain 168172320225+9521
6 St. George 168082334162+17220
7 Newtown 168082280248+3220
8 Canterbury-Bankstown 1620142150660-5108
9 University 1600162109529-4204

Finals

In the two semi-finals played as a double-header at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the same day, the top two ranked teams Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney beat their lower-ranked opponents Western Suburbs and North Sydney. Eastern Suburbs and South Sydney won their respective matches and met each other in the Final.

Semi-finals Final
7 September 1935 - Sydney Cricket Ground
  Eastern Suburbs 15  
  Western Suburbs 10  
 
14 September 1935 - Sydney Cricket Ground
      Eastern Suburbs 19
    South Sydney 3
7 September 1935 - Sydney Cricket Ground
  South Sydney 14
  North Sydney 10  

Premiership Final

South Sydney Position Eastern Suburbs
Les McDonald FB Tom Dowling
Harry Thompson WG Rod O’Loan
Harry Eyers CE Ross McKinnon
Eddie Finucane CE Jack Beaton
George Shankland WG Fred Tottey
"Paddy" Stewart FE Ernie Norman
Percy Williams(c) HB Viv Thicknesse
Jack McCormack PR Ray Stehr (c)
George Kilham HK Tom McLachlan
Eric Lewis PR Max Nixon
Frank Curran SR Harry Pierce
Michael Williams SR Joe Pearce
Eddie Hinson LK Andy Norval
Dave Watson Coach Arthur Halloway

Before a crowd of 22,106 and refereed by Tom McMahon, Easts led 9-0 at half-time and were never headed despite being without their star centre, Dave Brown.[4]

Scorers

Tries: Rod O'Loan 2, Harry Pierce, Fred Tottey, Jack Beaton. Goals: Ross McKinnon 2

Try: George Shankland

Source:[5]

References

  1. Premiership Roll of Honour at rl1908.com
  2. "History of the Premiership". centenaryofrugbyleague.com.au. Australian Rugby League. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  3. Middleton, David (30 September 2013). "Ten of the most dominant seasons in rugby league history from historian David Middleton". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  4. "The Rugby Season has ended". The Sydney Mail (Australia). 1935-09-18. p. 33. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  5. "Finals Scorers,1935". stats.rleague.com. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
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